14 Year Old O/D's on "Ecstasy" (Minor updates 3/23/05)

July 29

Accused Ecstasy dealer faces September trial
Daily Journal Staff Report

The 20-year-old Belmont man accused of providing Ecstasy to a trio of junior high girls in April, killing one of them, will begin trial in late September.

Antonio Rivera, Jr. has pleaded not guilty to drug possession, child endangerment, giving drugs to a minor and providing drugs to a minor to sell. If convicted, he faces up to two decades in prison.

Whether the four other people arrested in the death of Irma Perez, 14, will testify against him remains unclear. An 18-year-old girl who hid drugs for him following the death has already agreed to a plea bargain and one of the two girls is currently weighing an offer. Neitherofferis contingent upon their testimony, said District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

Rivera waived his right to a preliminary hearing so his trial will be the first public exposure of the evidence linking him to Perez’s death and an unrelated drug sale.

Rivera allegedly gave the illegal drugs to Calin Fintzi, 17, who in turn sold them to the girls. At a Friday night slumber party April 23, the girls popped the pills. Perez told them that she didn’t feel good and the others called Fintzi who suggested giving her marijuana. They tried that and also gave Perez a bath before finally notifying an adult. By the time medical help was summoned early Saturday morning, Perez was unconscious. She remained that way until she was declared brain dead Sunday night and removed from life support days later.

Rivera and Fintzi were arrested immediately. Angelique Malabey was also arrested for agreeing to hide Rivera’s drug stash after he learned of Perez’s death. The two other girls were arrested later in the week for failing to get help. They could be charged with involuntary manslaughter but the district attorney has not made that decision yet. The charges against Rivera were not upgraded to involuntary manslaughter because his connection to Perez’s death was only indirect.

Rivera remains in custody at San Mateo County Jail in lieu of $2 million bail. He returns to court Sept. 20.

http://www.smdailyjournal.org/article.cfm?issue=07-29-04&storyID=33226
 
Teen receives six months in Ecstasy death

Teen receives six months in Ecstasy death

July 30/2004

Girl called dealer instead of ambulance when her friend convulsed, passed out


By Tim Hay, STAFF WRITER

REDWOOD CITY -- One of two teens charged in the death of a 14-year-old girl who took Ecstasy pleaded guilty Thursday to furnishing drugs and to cruelty to a child, and was sentenced to six months in juvenile hall.

Until she is 18, the girl will be a ward of the court, meaning a judge can order her to drug treatment, counseling and random drug testing.

The girl could have been sent to a harsh California Youth Authority facility for up to five years, but Judge Stephen Livermore opted for a lighter sentence, in part because she agreed to help the District Attorney's Office prosecute others involved in the case.

Not everyone was thrilled with Thursday's plea deal.

Imelda Perez, whose sister Irma died after a night of drug-taking at the girl's home, said the sentence should have been harsher.

"She should have gotten more time," Perez said. "I know she's a child, but she let my sister die. They saw her die, and they didn't do anything."



The girl -- whose name is being withheld because she is under 18 -- took Ecstasy at a sleepover with Irma Perez and another teen last April 23.

Perez reportedly suffered for hours, vomiting, convulsing and eventually falling unconscious.

The girls hid their friend's condition from the adults in the house, and called the man who sold them the drugs rather than an ambulance.

Deputy District Attorney Elizabeth Raffaelli was pushing for the girl to be sent to the CYA.

"I understand why the judge did what he did, but somebody died, and that's hard," Raffaelli said.

In exchange for her guilty plea, Judge Livermore dropped two other charges against the girl, one a felony and the other a misdemeanor. The felony was possession of a controlled substance, and the lesser charge was contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

When her six months in juvenile hall are over, she will join GIRLS, a program that helps integrate young female offenders back into their homes. She will be educated at the high school in juvenile hall or another County program, the judge ruled.

She will not be allowed to drive until 2007. The judge asked that she write a 10-page essay on the dangers of drugs, and a letter of apology to the Perez family.

The parents of the girl said in court several months ago they checked on the girls several times that night, and they seemed fine.

Imelda Perez said Thursday the parents called her the following day to tell her there was something wrong with Irma, and that it was she who called 9-1-1.

The other girl who was present the night Irma died faces the same four charges, and will have her day in court Wednesday.

Link
 
Well guys im in 8th grade goin to 9th... but i am very experienced and very careful in what i do. Your judging by age and not by the persons character... your judging by a number.
 
Deal Struck In Teen Ecstasy Death

Aug. 4 (BCN) — A teenage girl who failed to call 911 as her friend lay dying from a drug overdose pleaded no contest today to child endangerment and providing Ecstasy.

The girl, 13 at the time of the incident, was sentenced to serve a minimum of six months in a rehabilitation program for her role in the death of 14-year-old Irma Perez.

Perez and two girlfriends took one Ecstasy pill each at a slumber party in the xxxx block of xxxxxx Avenue in Belmont on the night of April 23, authorities said.

Early the next morning, Perez's sister and guardian Imelda rushed to the party hostess' house and dialed 911 after hearing from one of the girl's relatives that Irma was ill.

The Ralston Middle School eighth grader was taken to Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, where she was taken off life support on April 28.

The 14-year old girl who hosted the slumber party pleaded no contest last week to child endangerment and providing Ecstasy. Judge Richard Livermore sentenced that defendant to G.I.R.L.S., the same rehabilitation program required for the defendant in today's case.

"It's a very stringent program. I understand it is quite tough," said prosecutor Elizabeth Rafaelli. Both girls also are ordered to take a victim empathy class.

Juvenile Court Judge Marta Diaz added some additional conditions to the punishment in today's case. The girl must complete 100 hours of service work that includes speaking to other children in the community about what happened. She also must complete a biography of Irma Perez, including interviewing friends, teachers and family members.

"It was an absolutely inspired sentence," Rafaelli said.

Criminal charges also have been filed against three other defendants in Perez's death. A 17-year-old Belmont boy who allegedly furnished the drug for Perez was charged with involuntary manslaughter.

The trial begins in September for defendant Antonio Rivera, 20, who pleaded not guilty to felony drug charges related to possession of Ecstasy, cocaine, marijuana and furnishing narcotics to minors.

A fifth defendant in the case, Angelique Malabey, 18, pleaded no contest to aiding and abetting a felony. She will be sentenced this month.

The Perez family has attended court dates for all of the defendants. "And they cry," Rafaelli said. "It's like opening a wound for them every time they come to court. They will never feel like there's enough justice to this."

Source

[edit: removed address :)]
 
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^ umm rehab? do the courts understand that rehab is for people who have drug addictions? apparently not
 
yea my friend got busted for smoking weed and got a court order sending him to rehab. i went to one of those meetings with him, and most of those people were hardcore drug abusers that made my friend's drug habits pale in comparison. what kind of effect to they expect that to have on pot heads?
 
Girl sentenced in Ecstasy case

Girl sentenced in Ecstasy case

By Josh Wein | Staff Writer
Published on Thursday, August 5, 2004

SAN MATEO -- The second sentence in connection with the Ecstasy-induced death of 14-year-old Irma Perez was handed down Wednesday, and it was harsher than the first.

The second of two 14-year-old girls that were with Perez the night she took the drug and slipped into a coma from which she never emerged pleaded no contest to two felony charges of furnishing a minor with illegal drugs and putting a child in a position of harm.

In exchange for her plea, and her cooperation with ongoing prosecutions of two other suspects involved in the death, Deputy District Attorney Elizabeth Raffaelli dropped two other criminal charges and agreed not to file manslaughter charges against the girl.

Judge Marta S. Diaz ordered that the girl, who remains unidentified because of her age, be made a ward of the court until her 21st birthday. She was sentenced to six months in Hillcrest Juvenile Hall, 100 hours of uncompensated community service in which she'll address school-age kids about the dangers of drug use and she must write a biography -- which will involve interviewing dozens of family members, friends and acquaintances -- of her friend and victim, Irma Perez.

She will also have to submit to drug testing at least twice each week and is subject to unannounced searches, with or without cause.

The sentence is the strictest possible short of lock-up in the California Department of Youth Authority, Raffaelli said.

"This is a senseless killing," Diaz said in a speech to the minor. "And the aftershocks from it have rocked an entire community. I do not believe for one moment that you have any concept of the harm you have done."

The judge had similarly harsh words for the girl's family, who were present at the hearing.

The sentence was harsher than the one handed down by Judge Richard Livermore last week to the other 14-year-old girl involved in Perez's death. In that case, the girl received five years of probation and no community service. She will have to write a 10-page essay on the dangers of Ecstasy use.

Imelda Perez, Irma's older sister, said that she was happier with Wednesday's harsher sentence. Perez said she thought that adding the biography aspect to the sentence was a good idea.

It's an idea that Diaz has had success with in the past, Raffaelli said.

The minor's family did not see things similarly, and said that the judge was wrong to say they had taken Perez's death lightly.

"Irma is on our minds every day," said the minor's aunt. "The remorse is high, no matter what the judge said. In my opinion, all three of the girls are victims."

Link
 
Re: Girl sentenced in Ecstasy case

Crazeee said:

"Irma is on our minds every day," said the minor's aunt. "The remorse is high, no matter what the judge said. In my opinion, all three of the girls are victims."
Click to expand...

I have to agree with that.
 
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Why are all the people involved (the feds, the judges, media) missing the whole point of this terrible accident ?

The girls did not call for help in fear of reprecussions from the law,however naive their decisions were (they are 14!) they never suspected someone could die from ecstasy because of lack of proper education about drugs !!!

If anyone is to blame, it's the US government for brainwashing the kids with terrible information and scaremongering tactics instead of proper education.

I bet you any money that if the girls were aware that their friend COULD die and that they would NOT BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR FRIEND'S OWN ACTIONS , they would have called for proffesional help immediately.

How sad and terrible this story is, more so because it reinforces our views and the idea behind BL: prohibition doesn't work, might as well give the kids the best tools against misusing drugs: information !!!

:(
 
^^^Crazee said it.
Besides the fact that 8th graders should not be using drugs, it is partially a result of the government's misinformation about ecstasy.
 
They simply were ignorant. I took my first E when I was 14 (8th grade) with no negative consequences, not even a hangover and I'm fine. Maybe they shoulda been posting and learning about it on bluelight first?
 
That's it! Mandatory classroom time dedicated to bluelight. So this stuff will never happen again.
 
Ecstasy death: Dealer’s helper gets six months

An 18-year-old woman who hid drugs at the request of an Ecstasy dealer whose wares contributed to the death of a teenage girl was sentenced to six months in jail yesterday.

Angelique Malabey receives credit for two days already served and must spend three years on supervised probation after completing her jail term. Malabey pleaded no contest to one felony count of acting as an accessory to a felony in return for no more than a year in jail. She faced up to three years in prison if convicted by a jury.

Malabey could be called to testify in the trials of the other four people arrested following the death of Irma Perez, 14, even though acting as a witness was not a stipulation of the plea bargain.

Malabey was arrested for reportedly helping Antonio Rivera, 20, cover up his involvement. Rivera allegedly gave Ecstasy to 17-year-old Calin Fintzi who in turn gave it to Perez and three friends. After Perez slipped into unconsciousness April 23, Rivera asked her to remove Ecstasy and other drugs from his apartment, prosecutors said.

Malabey, Rivera, Fintzi and Perez’s friends were all arrested on varied charges after Perez was declared brain dead. Fintzi and Rivera were charged with providing drugs to a minor, drug possession and child endangerment. Malabey was arrested with Rivera. The two 14-year-old girls were taken into custody two days after Perez was taken off life support.

The two girls delayed getting Perez medical help until it was too late. They both took plea bargains and were sentenced to rehabilitation programs and probation. They must also speak to other students about the dangers of drugs. One girl must also write a biography of the victim based on interviews with her friends and family.

Fintzi’s charges were upgraded to involuntary manslaughter and is facing trial as an adult.

Malabey has been out of custody on a $10,000 bail bond. She has no prior criminal record.

here
 
Wow this is total bullshit in my opinion. So some stupid little girls wanted to take X and fucked up, why should others have to pay for other peoples fuckups. Oh yeah its America, I forgot. I never quite got the concept of involuntary manslaughter. If it was an accident, why should they be responsible. We dont charge alcohal makers with it, and lord knows how many people booze kills.

DB
 
Guilty plea in Ecstasy death

31/08/04

Daily Journal wire report

A man who allegedly sold the dose of ecstasy that killed a 14-year-old Belmont girl in April reversed his plea yesterday, admitting to several of the felony counts against him.

Antonio Rivera, 20, pleaded guilty to charges related to events before, during and after the death of Irma Perez.

Perez, an eighth-grader at Ralston Middle School, was taken off life support after taking an ecstasy pill at the slumber party April 23, and died on April 28.

“I never could link him [Rivera] directly to the deceased victim, but I could definitely put him in the chain of events,” said Deputy District Attorney Elizabeth Raffaelli, who is prosecuting five defendants in Perez’s death.

Raffaelli believes that Rivera provided ecstasy pills to a 17-year-old boy, who in turn sold the drugs to a 13-year-old girl, who gave Perez the fatal pill.

Rivera’s charges, “Not only represent the events that took place the night that Irma Perez died, but also [show] that he engaged in charges before and after the death of this girl,” Raffaelli said.

While not pleading guilty to all 13 counts against him, “He did plead to the charges that carry the greatest potential consequence,” Raffaelli said.

Rivera will emerge from the case with two strikes against him under California’s three strikes law, Raffaelli said.

Related to Perez’s death, Rivera pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide controlled substances to minors, possession of a controlled substance for sale and inducing a violation by a minor.

Rivera also pleaded to charges of inducing a minor to commit a drug offense in an April 13 incident, in which he provided cocaine to a 13-year-old girl, with a special allegation that the child was at least four years younger than himself.

He admitted to one count of possession of cocaine for sale, on April 24, 2002, the day he was arrested.

While the prosecution has no evidence that Rivera knew of Perez’s illness the night of April 23, he allegedly learned of the adverse reaction the next day and continued to sell drugs, Raffaelli said.

With Monday’s plea, Rivera, who originally pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, faces a maximum of eight years in prison. He will be sentenced Oct. 22.

Two girls who were with Perez that night, now both 14, have been sentenced to rehabilitation programs for their contribution to her death. The girls both failed to call 911 as Perez lay dying.

The 17-year-old Belmont boy accused of selling the pills awaits trial on involuntary manslaughter charges. A fifth defendant, Angelique Malabey, 18, has pleaded no contest to aiding and abetting a felony.

Link
 
Her sister, Imelda Perez, cannot understand why the girls didn't call for help and why parents at the house called her instead of 911.


1) Because they've never been properly educated about ecstacy.

2) Because they were terrified of our draconian legal system (for good reason apparently.)

This new trend of charging people with supplying drugs that kill someone is ridiculous, unless someone forces the drugs down someones throat, into their vein, up their nose, etc...it is solely the victims choice.

Bah, stupid.
 
This is the first time I've been through this forum in months, mostly because I can't handle reading about what the drug war is doing to this country.

That said, the story just makes me furious. Especially the part about the judge telling the 14 YEAR OLD GIRL she had no idea the harm she has caused. It gets My WTF Moment of the Week award. So, this girl watched her friend die, gets blamed for it and then taken to court, found guilty and punished and this asshole judge has the balls to say she doesn't get the scope of her actions. Fuck you sir, I'm sure she gets it. :X :X

Aside from that, the larger issue here is an all to common theme these days: it's never your fault, always someone else. In my mind, this should be chalked up as a dragic accident and left at that. But oh no, someone is to blame here and it's definitely not the girl who consumed the drug 8(

The dealer sold some pills. He didn't force the girls to take them though, I don't see how he can be connected to this case. If I gave you a gun, and you blew your head off, is it my fault?? No. Punish for the sale, not the results of the sale. (even though the sale shouldn't be punished anyway, fucking drug war:p) The middleman, same story, he didn't shove them down the girls throat. Her FRIENDS, jesus christ, they watched her die and then have to deal with getting blamed for it. Yes, they should have called for help, but as some of you mentioned before, if they knew they weren't going to be punished, I'm sure they would have called 911 A LOT sooner. They were scared, and instead of turning to poison control/911/PARENTS, they went to their dealer. Sad, sad state of affairs don't you think?

Anyway, its sad to see these girls are going to have to deal with this horrible tragedy the rest of their lives. Its bad enough to loose a friend at that age, but wrongfully getting blamed for the death? Wow. :|
 
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